Journeys End in Lovers Meeting
by KATMegate
Summary: Lily is sick of her friends saying that James likes her. So sick of it, that she denys it every chance she can. But does she feel the same as she says?
1. Part One

A multi-part story about how Lily and James could've come to be. Part One is in **sixth year**. _Disclaimer:_ I do not own anything besides the words, and a few characters (5, according to my counting). Don't sue me…I'm a poor student. **Journeys End in Lovers Meeting** Part One

    A school in northern Scotland had just released students from their afternoon classes, and as usual, chaos was breaking out among the students.  But, unlike most schools in the country, this one had a rather unusual course of study.  Other than this certain aspect, it was your average, run-of-the-mill, nice and normal school.

    "Lily! Oh, I'm so glad I found you!" a girl called out as she hurried toward two other girls—one redhead, one brunette.

    The redhead turned and asked, "What did you need, Alice?"

    "I didn't understand the charm Flitwick was talking about at all," Alice said, nearly wailing.

    "Protective charms?  There's really nothing to it, especially after reading a bit of background," Lily explained.

    "By all means," the brunette remarked teasingly, "go off to your little charms world and forget me."

    Lily rolled her eyes.  "I'll meet you in the common room, Pamina."

    "I have to walk there by myself?" Pamina whined while shooting Alice a mock glare.

    Alice laughed, "It's not my fault Lily's so good at Charms."

    "It won't take long to get a book on it—I know where several good ones are," Lily said.  "Besides, you're a big girl now and can find the common room on your own."

    Pamina faked a look of shock, as the others headed for the library, Lily explaining some about the charm to an attentive Alice.  Once they were gone, Pamina turned to head to Gryffindor tower and ended up several paces behind two of her classmates, the most notorious raven-haired boys the school had ever known.

    "You've got to stop staring, mate," one of them told the other.

    "Huh?" replied the one with glasses.

    "You were staring, James."

    "No…no, I wasn't," came the spacey reply.

    The first boy sighed dramatically, "Denial."

    "What are you talking about, Sirius?" James asked, finally looking at his friend.

    Sirius laughed, "You couldn't take your eyes off her long enough to pay attention to what I was saying!"

    James stayed silent.

    "I never thought it would happen," Sirius continued, still laughing.  "Imagine what people would say to James Potter liking L—"

    "Shut it, Padfoot," James snapped.  "I don't need you to rub it in."

    "But it's funny," Sirius insisted.

    "Not for me."

    "I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

    "How helpful," James scoffed.

    "Come on, this is Evans we're talking about; she's bound to come around."

    "Don't try being sensible, Sirius, it doesn't sound right."

    "Well, excuse me for trying to help."

    "I'm afraid that I can't take advice from someone who needs help himself."

    "Ah, well, I can't argue that one," chuckled Sirius.

    Just then, a girl jogged up beside Pamina, preventing her from hearing more of the conversation ahead of her.

    "Mina," the girl gasped, "I need you to help me with Astronomy, I just don't understand it anymore!"

    Pamina laughed, "Rina, you've _never_ understood Astronomy fully."

    "Well," came the defensive reply, "neither does Dina…and I don't think Monty did…in fact, you're the only one who understands the stars!"

    "I'll just have to teach Gunth all I know, then, since the rest of you are worthless in my favorite field."

    "We're not worthless, Pamina!"

    "Then why did you say that Germont, yourself and Adina aren't good at it, Norina?"

    "Because, sister dear, I was going for the humble approach.  I thought it might get you to help me quicker…and I have Astronomy tonight, so I need help with it soon."

    "Well," Pamina said cheerfully as they approached the portrait hole, "I'm glad you put it off to the last minute like a true Auster.  Go grab your book and meet me in the common room."

    Norina gave the password and scurried through and made a beeline up to her dorm.  Pamina looked around for one of her friends—and found one sitting at a table in the far corner of the room.

    Pamina dropped her books on the table and said, "Hullo, Judith.  Getting a head start on homework today?"

    "Just because you like to procrastinate, Pami," Judith replied without looking up, despite the noise, "doesn't mean the rest of us do."

    "One day I'll convert you and Lily to my way of thinking," Pamina stated, sinking into a chair.

    "If I were you, I'd just worry about converting Gunther and not worry about us."

    "Hmm…you have a good point.  A little brother is always easier to train than friends."

    "It must be the ten year age difference," Judith remarked wryly.

    "No, that can't be it—I think she brain washes the poor boy each summer," Lily remarked as she joined her friends.  "Now, what are you teaching Gunth _this_ time?"

    "Procrastination and Astronomy."

    "Astronomy?" Judith asked startled.  "When did that come into it?"

    "It's all my siblings fault for not being good at it—Norina brought it up, since she needs help today."

    "She has class tonight, doesn't she?" Lily asked, almost rhetorically.

    "How'd you know?"

    "She's an Auster, and therefore a natural procrastinator."

    "Yes, we do try," Pamina remarked smirking, "don't we, Rina?"

    Norina, who had just appeared with her Astronomy book, looked at her sister in confusion before replying, "Ask me some other time, Mina, I'd prefer to work on one thing at a time."

    "Yes," Lily laughed, "Nori is a _true_ Auster."  Judith joined Lily in laughing, while the two sisters watched them with regal smiles adorning their faces.

    "Lils, when I'm done helping Rina, I want to tell you something I heard," Pamina said mysteriously before leaving the table.

    Lily merely shrugged in response—Pamina was always hearing things she had to tell someone about.

***

    When Pamina had finished helping Norina with the finer points of Astronomy, she returned to her two friends.  Lily and Judith made no sign of realizing their missing friend had rejoined them and continued writing frantically.

    "What are you two working on?" Pamina asked.

    "Potions," Lily said, while Judith replied at the same time, "Transfiguration."

    "Then I'm sure you won't mind setting your quills down to go to dinner, since those are horrid subjects anyway."

    "I only need a few more lines—I'll meet you downstairs," Lily murmured.

    Judith replied similarly with, "Give me a minute to finish this sentence."

    Pamina rolled her eyes and decided to take action—after all, her stomach was growling with hunger.

    Soon Lily and Judith were staring bemusedly at their hands.

    "Er, that was odd," Judith said.

    "Not to mention suspicious," Lily continued.  "Now, Pami, did you happen to notice where our quills disappeared to?"

    Pamina shook her head.

    "Give it over," Judith stated.

    "I don't know _what_ you're talking about," Pamina replied with wide, overly innocent eyes.

    "If you don't give us back our quills, we won't go to dinner at all," Lily threatened.

    Pamina cocked her head to the side, as if considering what had been said.  "Well," she said at last, "I suppose I'll give them back…." Lily and Judith held out their hands in expectation and Pamina finished childishly, "But only if you can catch me!"

    With that, Pamina bolted from the room, waving the quills in the air.  Judith and Lily bit out cries of frustration before racing off after her.  After all, three sixteen year olds will have their moments of childishness—and will enjoy every minute of it.

    The chase was, by the girls' accounts, very thrilling and exhilarating.  Lily would consider it to be one of the best she had been in—Judith always disliked running too far but enjoyed short chases—and Pamina liked anything, as long as it caused some trouble along the way.

    As Pamina came up behind a group of four boys—two of which were James and Sirius—she let out a high, grating cackle.  It startled the boys, who instinctively turned to see what was going on.

    This was followed by a shouted, "Pamina Auster!  I dislike you!"

    The remark earned another cackle.  "Why don't you just summon it like Judi did?" Pamina taunted.

    "Because," Lily replied irritated, "magic isn't allowed in the corridors.  Besides, I'll catch you soon enough."

    Pamina let out a little "eep!" and ran quickly past the four boys—each of which was staring at the spectacle—with Lily hot on her heels.

    Not long after they had disappeared around the corner, Judith jogged up to the four boys.

    "Hullo," she greeted cheerfully.  "Did you happen to see two girls run through here?  Perhaps they were just two black blurs, or a flash of brown and a flash of red."

    "Er, yes," answered a brown haired boy.  "They went that way," he added with a laugh.

    "Thanks, Remus.  I don't know what'll become of Pami _this_ time."

    "What'd she do?" Sirius asked curiously.  It was a well-known fact in Gryffindor tower that Pamina did ridiculous things—especially to her friends.

    Judith rolled her eyes and explained, "She thought it would be smart to steal our quills when Lily and I were in the middle of sentences."

    The boys laughed.  Then one of them, a boy with sandy hair, asked, "So, you have yours, don't you?"

    "Yes, I do, Peter," Judith replied.  "I didn't want to chase Pami to the entrance hall.  Besides, she probably has taunted Lily with something by now, and will deserve getting caught."

    "I think we heard the taunt," James said with evident amusement in his tone.

    After conversing trivial subjects for a few minutes, the group came to the top of the marble staircase.  The sight below them was a rather interesting one.  Lily stood at the bottom, her recovered quill grasped in her hand, and she seemed to have just ended a tirade of words.  Pamina was rubbing her left wrist and looking rather ashamed—therefore, whatever Lily said had worked, somewhat.

    "Well?" Judith asked as she came down the stairs, with the boys trailing curiously behind her.

    "She won," Pamina grudgingly replied.

    "Caught her on the stairs," Lily remarked proudly.

    "Only 'cause she won't tell me how to—"

    "Oh, _sure_, as if I'll tell you how to do something that took me _years_ to perfect," Lily said with a hint of sarcasm, cutting off Pamina.  "Only when you need to get downstairs without being detected, can you truly appreciate the art."

    "It's not _my_ fault she's so nosey!" Pamina exclaimed somewhat sourly.

    "No.  Nor is it mine," Lily commented darkly.

    Judith, afraid of what might happen if the conversation continued in this direction, decided to ask lightheartedly, "Have you two made up?"

    "Yes, Judi," Pamina and Lily chorused.

    "Good.  Then let's eat," Judith replied.  "Besides, wasn't that the whole point behind your theft, Pami?"

    "Yes, but you see, when Lily grabbed my wrist—"

    "I only did that because you had my quill!" Lily interrupted.

    As Lily and Pamina continued their friendly banter, Judith turned to the boys and remarked, "Honestly, I don't know _why_ they do this."

    "Because it's fun!" Sirius exclaimed exuberantly.

    "Yes.  You should hear the four of us when we do that," James added.

    "It's horrid when Sirius and James pick the opposite sides," Remus said ruefully.

    Judith made a face, "Oohh…that must be!"

    Peter nodded in agreement and said, "They stop using normal logic."

    "They never have, really," Remus clarified, "but it does get worse."

    "I think it'd be worse if they were on the same side," Judith whispered to Remus and Peter.

    "It is," Peter replied.

    "Luckily, it doesn't happen often," Remus added.

    With a quick farewell and one last parting wave, Judith joined Lily and Pamina, while the boys headed further down the table.

***

    It was long after dinner, when Lily and Judith had finished their homework and after Pamina had completed everything that was due the next day, that Pamina could tell what she had heard.

    "I'll tell you what I was going to tell hours ago, but I kept getting interrupted…." Pamina began.

    "If you'll kindly recall," Lily said mock-haughtily, "_you_ caused the interruptions.  _You_ had to help your sister; _you_ stole our quills to get us down to dinner faster.  It's always _you_, isn't it?"

    "Well," Pamina replied thoughtfully, "I really can't help the fact that I'm so wonderful."

    Lily and Judith rolled their eyes—they heard such things from Pamina _all_ the time, and it was not true in the least.

    "You were going to tell us something, before you interrupted yourself _again_," Judith said pointedly.

    "Oh! Right.  Well, I thought it might interest Lily a bit more, since it was about her," Pamina began with a hint of mystery.  "It all started on my way to the tower, after class…" She then proceeded to tell Lily and Judith the conversation she had overheard.

    When she finished, Pamina looked at her friends to gage their reactions.  Judith seemed slightly intrigued, but unable to determine how true the story was.  Lily, on the other hand, had a very blank face and it was difficult to determine just what she thought of it.

    Pamina decided to try something else to get a reaction from her passive friend.  "I _told_ you that he liked you."

    "You'll forgive me, I hope," Lily said after a short pause, "if I don't automatically believe you, but you have had a tendency to slightly exaggerate things in the past, or bend them a bit to fit the angle you want them to be seen."

    Pamina's mouth twitched a bit at this accusation, mainly because she had done as Lily described in the past, but she replied seriously, "This is one time that I _haven't_ made 'with a twinge of dislike' into 'maliciously.'"

    "I still don't think James Potter likes _me_," Lily said skeptically.

    "Lils, he asks you out all the time," Judith added matter-of-factly.

    Pamina caught this and continued by saying, "Most notably, in front of that crowd after our Defense O.W.L. last year."

    Lily rolled her eyes and shook her head, "The only reason he asks is because I'm the one girl he can't get."

    "That's not entirely true…" Judith began.

    "You both liked him at one time—I didn't mean right now.  I meant ever since we stepped foot in Hogwarts, I'm the one he could never charm and he doesn't like it."

    "Lil, I think you're exaggerating a bit," Pamina said sensibly.

    Lily cracked a smile, "Okay, I might be…but it doesn't change my opinion of him, or his motives, _at all_."

    "And, er, what exactly is your opinion?" Pamina asked, her eyes slightly mischievous.

    Lily gave Pamina an incredulous look, she couldn't believe Pamina was asking this, but decided to humor her friend.  "I still think he feels his talents allow him to do as he pleases—thereby making him arrogant and a bully."

    "He has cut back on random bullying, you know," Pamina said.

    "And he's not completely arrogant all the time," Judith continued.

    "Well, I have to judge by what I know," Lily said as she stood up.  "Goodnight," she added before turning on her heal and heading upstairs.

    Both Pamina and Judith were so shocked at their friend's sudden departure that they failed to notice that across the room, one boy's eyes followed Lily as she left.

*~*~*

Title comes from Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_

Thanks to everyone who reviewed "To Err is Human; To Forgive, Devine"! I'm attempting a sequel, but it's not working fully…and I have finals to worry about taking…so, I'll try to get it done early next year.

The second part of this will be up fairly soon…before Christmas, with any luck. It's written, but I just have to find time to post it.

~KAT:Megate~


	2. Part Two

Somehow I found time to post the second part (okay, so I'm putting off studying for my last test…but that's not the point). 

: )

Enjoy the second part!

~~~

**Part Two**

    The first day back at Hogwarts from summer break was always a bit crazed.  Everyone wanted to catch up with friends about what had happened over the past two months.  For one group of Gryffindor girls, this was fulfilled in a nice, long gossip session.

    "I think we should be fine in the common room," a raven haired girl remarked, "after all, we have the Head Girl with us, so we can't get in _too_ much trouble."

    This earned a snort of laughter from Lily.  "Right, Cari, you four won't get in trouble—it'll just be me."

    "And our darling Head Boy," Pamina added mischievously, earning laughter from the other girls.

    "He gets in enough trouble as is," Alice stated.

    "Too true," Judith replied dryly.

    With an arch look, Cari asked, "How do you like our Head Boy, Lily?"

    Lily sighed before answering, "As of now, I think little of his appointment—give me some time and I'm sure I'll be able to bore you to death with my opinions."

    This earned another bout of laughter from the seventh year girls—which in turn, slightly frightened the people left in the common room.

    "Are you sure you'll be able to have a good working relationship?" Cari asked.

    Lily's only response was to raise an eyebrow.

    "What she means," Pamina continued with a smirk, "is how will you two work together when it's obvious that he wants a different type of _relationship_?"

    "I maintain the fact that _all_ of you are delusional," Lily sourly replied.

    "Oh, come on, Lily," Alice said.  "Certainly you can tell that he thinks very highly of you…"

    "And he's asked you out countless times…" Cari contributed.

    "Plus, he always seems to watch you," Pamina added.

    Lily glared at them, and Judith decided to keep her mouth shut on this one.

    "We really aren't making it all up," Cari said.  "And I don't know why you won't even listen to the evidence…"

    "I _have_ listened, haven't I?  Or why else am I _still_ sitting here?" Lily questioned angrily.

    An uncomfortable silence ensued, in which Lily was scowling at nothing in particular and the others were staring at her, wondering if she expected an answer.

    Finally Judith broke the silence by asking inanely, "Did you hear that Will Loanan broke it off with Stacey Marks?"

    Cari's eyes lit up, and Lily threw Judith a grateful look.

    "Really?  When did this happen?" Cari asked.  "Details, Judith, details!"

    Judith laughed.  "Patience, Cari, patience!"  Then more seriously she said, "You know Stacey lives near me and we're fairly close, so she came over for comforting.  The poor thing was absolutely heartbroken—she really liked him a lot.  And the worst of it is he didn't even have the decency to do it face-to-face—he broke up by _owl_."

    "What a coward!"  Pamina exclaimed vehemently.  "If he didn't want to be there in person, he could've at least talked through the fire!"

    "But he likes using owl post," Lily stated.  "Don't you remember when he broke up with Anna Hillbury?  He did the exact same thing."

    "True.  But he and Anna weren't as involved as he and Stacey," Alice pointed out.

    "Yes—_that_ relationship was dead by the time he broke it off.  Even Anna said she would've broken up with him if it went another week.  And we all know that Anna isn't one to take action," Cari said.

    The girls continued in this line of conversation, gossiping about various relationships that had been started or ended over break, as well as those the people in consideration were previously involved with.

    It was very late when they had finally exhausted that source of gossip.  The only people left in the common room were the five girls and six boys, who were sitting across the room.  The boys were, naturally, the rest of the seventh years.  To these poor souls, the girls' conversation soon returned.

    "I thought you'd like to know, Lily," Cari said, "that Mr. Potter is staring at you."

    Lily resisted the urge to yell out, _Of course I know he is!_  For she had, unbeknownst to her friends, developed a sixth sense when it came to James and could tell when he stared at her—after all, it had ample time to develop with the amount of staring he did.

    Instead she used her defense mechanism and asked skeptically, "Oh, really?  How can you tell that he's staring at _me_?  He might be looking at _you_."

    "Lily," Cari answered, "his eyes haven't moved off you.  I'm beginning to think that they're permanently stuck on you."

    "I'm sure you're mistaken," Lily replied incredulously.

    "You could always turn around and see for yourself," Pamina added impishly.

    "I wouldn't wish to give _any_ of you the satisfaction."

    "I'm telling you, Lily, he's head-over-heels for you," Cari said knowingly.

    "Ooohh," Lily said, her voice positively dripping of sarcasm, "he told you this, did he?"

    Cari didn't know how to respond.  "I… Well…he never _said_ anything…but…"

    "It's utterly obvious that he likes you a lot," Pamina finished for her.

    Lily looked toward the two quieter girls to see what they thought of this.

    Alice shrugged apologetically, "They have a point, even if it is a bit exaggerated."

    "I don't think he's really head-over-heels, yet," Judith agreed, "but I don't know why you dismiss the fact that he likes you so rapidly."

    "Exactly," Cari said.  "Why won't you hear us out when we try to tell you that he likes you?"

    "I've _told_ you that I listen to your 'evidence' that he likes me," Lily replied, her eyes flashing.  "In fact, I've heard your cases for James Potter time and time again—and I won't believe it unless _he_ decides to make this case _himself_.  Until then, I have to act as _I_ see fit—and what I see fit isn't what the _rest_ of you seem to."

    This outburst seemed to send the girls into a shocked silence.  None of them could piece together what exactly Lily had meant.

    Lily took advantage of this silence and the late hour.  She rose from her chair abruptly and said with finality, "Good_night_."  With that, she turned on her heel and went straight for the staircase.

    She was, of course, hyperaware that everyone in the room was looking at her—she supposed that the angry tones of her softly spoken speech had carried through the room.  And she was equally determined not to look at any of them—least of all at James Potter.

***

    After reaching the darkened dormitory and changing for the night, Lily thought back to the night's conversation.  And for once, she decided to be brutally honest with herself on one subject: James Potter.

    He did have a large amount of arrogance—he always seemed to think everyone liked him.  Which was often the case; he was very well liked at school (Slytherins excluded).  He also allowed this popularity to go to his head—and he used it in stupid ways; for instance, bullying people just because they annoyed him (and his friends).

    But James did have good points.  He was very charismatic (thus why he had such popularity) and was good at nearly everything he did—especially Quidditch.  In fact, Lily was a bit envious of these qualities.

    Lily saw little of these good qualities.  Whenever James was around her, he tended to come off as conceited.  The few times that she had a glimpse at the real James (when she had been near him without his knowledge), she saw a very different person—someone who wasn't idiotic and boastful.

    Even when he was being arrogant, Lily had a hard time ignoring James.  It seemed the more she tried to do this, the more she noticed him.  His habits, from the way he constantly messed up his hair to his showing off with his Snitch to his often witty statements, Lily could recall in an instant.

    If it hadn't been for his arrogance, Lily was certain that she would like him.  In fact, she was afraid that she liked him _in spite_ of this horrible trait.  But, of course, he had grown up in the past year and hopefully he'd continue to—so maybe his arrogance wouldn't be a problem….

    But Lily stuck by what she had told her friends.  If James Potter wanted to convince her that he really liked her, he would have to do so himself.  After all, Lily still had her doubts on his sincerity.

~~~

The third part is giving me a bit of trouble—yes, writer's block has struck with a vengeance. I'll work on it some more over the holidays, so around mid-January it should be up; but who knows, maybe I'll get it up before then.

~KAT:Megate~

Oh! one more thing: Please review!


	3. Part Three

**A.N.:** Hullo! It's been ages (three & half years, nearly!) since this was updated, but I finally managed to find the time to work out the kinks and get it up. It's nice & long, though, to make up for the wait -- & I'm trying to write a chapter to follow this, but I won't make any promises on when you'll see it. I hope you enjoy it, whether you're catching up on it again or finding it for the first time. :) Also, please leave me a review, it'll make me happy...and might motivate me to pull together the next section quicker...

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related...so, if you recognise it, then it's not mine. I do, however, claim the plot & Lily's friends._

* * *

**Part Three**

Lily Evans and James Potter entered the common room together for the third time that day. This itself was not entirely unusual these days – ever since the year started the two had gotten along without fighting once. The oddity of the scene was the late hour, a whispered conversation by the fireplace, and Lily giving James a quick kiss on the cheek before ascending the stairs.

Judith looked up as Lily entered the dormitory.

"How'd the meeting go?" she asked.

"As good as any planning session with Dumbledore can, I suppose," Lily replied.

"Did Potter do any of the work for this one?" Pamina asked, coming out of the bathroom, towel in hand.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Considering that I wasn't up to my ears in work for it, one would presume that he did his half of the work."

"Pamina doesn't make presumptions like that," Judith grinned.

"I've noticed," Lily said cryptically.

"Well, based on past events, it's a leap of logic I wasn't willing to attempt," Pamina retorted.

"And you couldn't have based anything on my past behavior compared to my present behavior?" Lily asked.

"I could've reached other conclusions from it," Pamina said. Then, in an attempt to get the attention off herself, added teasingly, "And do I note that you are actually _defending_ Mr Potter?" There was a short pause before she added in complete disbelief, "And _blushing_ about it?!"

"Am I really? Oh dear…" was Lily's only reply.

Pamina's eyes had grown close to the size of saucers due to shock. "You don't mean to tell me," she finally croaked out, "that you're falling for his little 'changing tactics' plan, are you?"

"Plan?"

"Yes. That 'I'm growing up' shtick he's pulling to get you to like him."

"Oh, you mean changing all the things that annoyed me."

"What else would I mean?"

"I suppose he is making a semi-conscious effort to mature, but some of it is just naturally growing up. Besides, do you really think I would allow him to change tactics without changing my own?"

"Since when do you have _tactics_?!"

"Yeah," Judith added. "I didn't realize that you had a _plan_ to deal with him."

"I honestly didn't have one for awhile, but I've learned that to deal with James Potter, you have to attempt at keeping a step ahead of him."

"You mean to tell me," Pamina said in complete disbelief, "that all this time we've been teasing you about Potter liking you, that you've been dealing with it in your own way?"

"Yes. Although it was largely trial and error…and most things tended not to work. He's incredibly persistent."

Neither Pamina nor Judith could think of any way to respond to this comment, so they settled for staring at Lily in shock.

----------

Pamina hadn't dared to bring up James Potter since the above incident in front of Lily, and was successful for the rest of the week – Pamina was rather afraid that her friend wanted to throw her off balance by suddenly defending the boy her friend had once despised. Instead, Pamina seemed to try and find topics that could not connect to that particular boy at all. Lily watched this in amusement, but humoured Pamina's wish and kept the name "James Potter" out of their conversations.

"Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow," Judith said.

"Oh, that's right!" Pamina said, smiling for the first time since sitting down to work on homework.

"Did you actually forget, Pami? That's not like you," Lily chimed in.

"Momentary lapse," Pamina assured them. Then she added, "Anything you two need to get done while we're there?"

"Nothing in particular; maybe grab a last minute gift or two," Judith said.

Lily, however, looked slightly awkward.

"Lily?" Judith asked.

"I…I have another commitment, actually; so I don't know if I'll see you two much in Hogsmeade."

Pamina's eyes lit up. "Do you have a _date_?"

Lily slowly nodded.

Judith's jaw dropped slightly and Pamina stifled a squeal.

"With who?" Pamina nearly demanded.

Lily blushed furiously. "Do you mind if I wait a bit before telling you? I just don't want the entire common room to know."

"Upstairs. Now," was Pamina's response.

"After dinner."

"Now."

"In the morning."

"Liiilly…."

"Won't work," Lily grinned. "I'll tell you tonight sometime."

"Judith, make her change her mind!"

Judith glanced at each of her friends. "Sorry, Pamina; Lily has full rights to torment us on this one, I'm afraid. That and she looks way too stubborn to change her mind on this."

Lily grinned, "More stubborn than you can imagine."

Judith snickered, but Pamina chose to pout, "Why does _she _get to be mysterious and I never do?"

"Because, Pami," Judith explained soothingly, "Lily can actually pull it off – you have a hard time with the secretive part of it."

----------

Dinner had been rather quiet, excepting that every so often Pamina would try to trick Lily into divulging the name of her mysterious Hogsmeade date. They had moved to Quidditch of all topics ("What's Mystery Boy's team?" Pamina had asked and Lily responded "If I knew, would I actually tell you?"), when four boys walked by them. One, however, stopped short and turned back.

"Evans, quick question: are we still on for tonight?"

You could almost feel the curiosity of everyone in hearing distance.

Lily's eyebrow rose (in the I-can't-believe-you're-asking-me-this way), "For that meeting and patrol, we are, Potter."

James merely grinned and said cheekily, "Just checking!" before rejoining his friends and leaving the Great Hall.

"Meeting?" Pamina asked when Lily had turned around.

"With Dumbledore – you know, that one I have before Hogsmeade trips?"

"How could you forget that, Pami?" Judith asked. "You bemoaned the fact the Friday before the last Hogsmeade trip – not to mention every Tuesday since term began!"

"I have not _bemoaned_ – wait." Judith and Lily looked at her expectantly. "This means you won't tell us Mystery Boy's name until you get back from that, doesn't it?" Pamina asked, eyes narrowed.

"Of course not," was Lily's cheerful answer. "I have to monitor you after you're in possession of this valuable information. Can't have it getting out to the wrong sort now, can I?"

Pamina chose to pout again – and was not amused when Judith pointed out that it was becoming a habit.

**----------**

The common room was uncommonly full this Friday night. Lily was highly suspicious of Pamina and Judith sitting downstairs – and was even more suspicious to see James Potter's friends sitting by the fire as well.

James shuffled his papers and slowly handed some to her. "You haven't told them, I take it?" he enquired in a low, low whisper.

"No," Lily responded in the same tone. "Have you told the lads yet?"

"Nothing more than that hint."

"They don't trust you anymore do they? What a shame, it really must hurt your precious ego," Lily teased.

James tried to hold in a guffaw, but clearly failed when the common room went silent. He couldn't think of something to cover it up because Lily was smiling softly up at him with that sparkle in her eyes….

"I take it you don't appreciate my idea of you doing patrols with Snape," she said in a slightly louder voice. "A shame, really; instead we'll have to deal with you both instead of getting rid of one of you."

If their friends had been quiet before, they were dead silent now – James had an advantage on them, though, since Lily's back was towards them and only he could see the teasing look on her face.

"Ah, Miss Evans, you cut me to the quick," James said, his face the picture of grief. It quickly morphed as he continued with a grin, "And which one of us would you like to see return?"

Lily winked while pretending to think. "I'm afraid, Mr Potter, that I have to keep it a secret." And before James could respond (and, Merlin forbid, before she would be persuaded to flirt with him in front of everyone some more), she turned around. And was confronted with five people staring at her. She pursed her lips slightly…James could've warned her about this.

"Don't you people have manners? Staring like that is very rude."

And clearly it wasn't about to stop anytime soon. Lily redirected her attention to the papers James had handed her. Pulling a few out of the pile she handed them back.

"I thought you needed those," he said. Lily shook her head and he shrugged.

Still no sounds came from the group collected around the fireplace.

"This is utterly ridiculous," James finally muttered.

"Agreed," was Lily's response.

Still silence from the couches.

With a sigh, Lily said brightly, "Well, it's been a long day; I think I should go to bed now. G'night!" She turned upon reaching the stairs to the girls' dormitories, though, to throw one last comment at James; "Don't forget what Dumbledore told us tonight."

"Oh, don't worry," James grinned, "I won't forget that in a hurry. Wise man, Dumbledore."

"_You're_ thinking of the last thing he told us; _I'm_ referring to the second."

"How can you be so sure that's what I meant?"

"Because, Potter, _that_ is something that has been at the fore of your mind for years."

James's grin widened, "Such a worthy cause, though, isn't it? Goodnight!"

----------

Lily had just stepped over the threshold of her dormitory when Pamina and Judith came up behind her.

"Right. Time to start talking, _Miss Evans_," Pamina declared.

"Yes," Judith agreed more mildly, "I think you have some things to tell us."

They all climbed onto Lily's bed, drew the curtains, and Lily performed a quick spell to keep their other roommates from waking.

"Well," Lily sighed, "where would you like me to start?"

"Explaining that odd scene downstairs would be nice," Pamina said.

Lily sighed wearily. "Tell me what you thought and then I'll be able to explain it better."

"Well," Pamina started, sounded faintly angry, "it certainly sounded like he was flirting with you – and if I didn't know better, I'd say you were flirting back."

Judith, however, gave a faint smile and said, "I say you were flirting with him, Lily."

Pamina turned to stare at Judith – but her head quickly spun back when Lily began to talk.

"You're both right."

"You always said that you didn't believe us; that you wouldn't give him the time of day!"

"No, Pami, I always said I didn't believe you – any of you – when you claimed that James Potter liked me, and that the only way I would believe it was if he told me and clearly meant it."

"So, he's made his case," Judith said.

Lily blushed. "Yes, he has – and I've heard him out – and we've talked about plenty of other things – and I _do_ like him, contrary to common belief – and so we're going to Hogsmeade together tomorrow."

Silence greeted this halting speech.

"You can gloat if you want to – I can handle it, well, a little of it, anyway."

"It's just… I never expected… Couldn't you have given us a hint before now?" Pamina nearly whined.

"And make an arse out of myself if he didn't like me anymore? Not likely."

"You _did_ give us hints, though," Judith asserted. "Earlier this week – after your weekly meeting – you defended him…and blushed."

Pamina sighed, "But that was just this week – I didn't expect such a quick turn around." Then her eyes narrowed, "You're bright red, Lily. There's more to this than you've told. So, how long have we been out of the loop?"

"Er…about a week and a half…ish."

"Ish?" Judith queried.

"Well…the part you want to know is mostly in the past two weeks."

"And before that?" asked a skeptical Pamina.

"That month would probably bore you, to be honest."

Pamina and Judith shared a look, then turned to Lily and said simultaneously, "Spill."

And Lily did so, on that command. She told them how she found herself liking it when his hand brushed against hers – how they could talk about any topic – how ridiculously soppy it was, but it couldn't be helped, that she felt safe when his arm was around her. Lily shared as much as she felt she could, (some things ought to remain private, after all) – and Judith and Pamina added their own comments as she narrated…often punctuated with many an "aww" and "I _told_ you so."

All in all, the girls spent the greater part of the night talking and not sleeping.


End file.
